French Government Announces International Competition For Redesigning Notre Dame Spire

France has started the task of rebuilding the Notre Dame Cathedral following an announcement today for an international contest where architects from all over the world will be pitching for the redesigning of the Notre Dame spire that was destroyed during the fire.

Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe stated that the government officials who in charge of the project will determine whether the new Notre Dame spire should be a completely new design or an enhanced replica of the original Notre Dame spire. The Prime Minister stated that it would be a historic decision nonetheless.

He said, ‘This is obviously a huge
challenge, a historic responsibility. Should we rebuild the spire envisaged and
built by Viollet-le-Duc under the same conditions…[or] give Notre Dame a new
spire adapted to the technologies and the challenges of our times?’

Here’s an interesting fact for you
all; the spire that will be replaced because of the contest was not as old as
the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Notre Dame cathedral is about 900 years old while
the spire that was lost to the fire was only a few hundred years old and had
been incorporated into the famous cathedral during the restoration that took
place in the 19th century. It was designed and built by Eugène Emmanuel
Viollet-le-Duc.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s President,
has said in his statement after the fire that damaged the famous icon on Monday
that he wants the restoration work to be completed within five years. However,
considering the extent of the damage that fire has caused; it is very unlikely
that the work will be completed within a time span of five years. According to
experts, it will definitely take longer than five years to rebuild.

It is a given that rebuilding the
Notre Dame Cathedral will require experienced architects. However, the initial
response to the proposal so far has been mixed. Let’s see what the government
officials and how the Notre Dame spire is rebuilt.